Computers

Did you know?

If left on a single PC and screen would cost around £100 a year to run and emit 450Kg of CO2 which is enough to fill 3 double decker buses

Newcastle University has around 10,000 computers on campus which account for up to 20 per cent of the University's energy use. The ESS Sustainability Team is working with ISS on a number of energy saving projects such as automatic shut down of cluster computers after 30 minutes of inactivity. However, technical solutions are more complicated for staff computers making simple behavioural changes especially important.

Energy Saving Actions

Turn off your PC at the end of the day

A standard PC uses around 100 watts of energy when switched on but only 5 watts when shut down

By turning off your PC at night you will save almost 70 percent of the electricity used in a typical working week compared to leaving it on.

If you also turn off your computer for an hour a day (over lunch or while at a meeting) this saving would increase to over 72 per cent

Turn off your monitor at the end of the day and when away from your desk

A standard monitor uses around 40 watts of energy when switched on, about 2 in standby and nothing when turned off. Your screen will automatically switch onto standby mode after 20 minutes of inactivity.

By switching your monitor off at the end of each day you could save over 16 percent of its energy consumption

If you also turn off your monitor for an hour a day (over lunch or while at a meeting) this saving would increase to 18 per cent.